ketchup

Now while an empty fridge is nothing new around here, even I have to admit that not having ketchup is cause for some alarm. This is because we’ve come to rely on condiments as they make even my most random of cooking attempts somewhat tasty.

Friends took pity on our empty fridge and treated us to lunch at Bouchon on Sunday: salad with shrimp, macarons, a gorgeous ceiling, the best bread I’ve had outside of Paris (really).

I can’t really say I have much of an excuse for not having ketchup except that:

I got some bad news regarding my hair: Apparently I’m no longer eligible to do Japanese straightening anymore. If I want to keep my hair on my head that is. Which I do.

Thinking of the impending frizz that will likely make me even taller than I already am made me lose my appetite.

Not having an appetite didn’t exactly propel me to the grocery store.

Ali being out of town all week (read there were no specific demands for breakfast / lunch / dinner) didn’t exactly propel me there either.

And when I finally made it there? I couldn’t find a single parking spot. Not one, despite circling for 10 minutes. (Love L.A. Love it).

Funny how we had no food but we miraculously did have the ingredients to make homemade cake pops and chocolate covered strawberries…

So Maya and I gave up and hightailed it back home. Where we discovered that if you close your eyes really hard, dip a rice cake in spaghetti sauce, and wish upon a star? It almost tastes like a french fry.

Ha, that is so true-you really do know you need to hit the store if condiments are running low-or in my case if chocolate stashes are empty.
On the other hand if the larder running dry meant my friends took me to Bouchon…

can’t believe ketchup was the more pressing issue versus hair, was your hair breaking from the straightening? And once you get to NYC you can walk to the market (at any hour) to get any condiment you’re out of.

Too funny! I’ve never tried that trick with the rice cake, but I usually have caramel corn ones anyway and that wouldn’t taste good with spaghetti sauce! Although now you have me thinking that I should buy the plain ones and dip them in things…dijon mustard comes to mind! Have a great day, Ameena!

When you are closer to your trip – give me a shout, I will proudly show you some awesome places in London and throughout England (mainly North) which is where the best is – should you wish to travel a little.

Sorry to hear about the result of the Japanese straightening to your hair. How about using the regular hair dryer? I let my hair dry naturally now due to the fall out, sure I look like Medusa for the first few hours (!!) but afterwards I look decent enough to let other people see me 🙂

If I had to battle for a parking spot I would NEVER do any grocery shopping. ‘Aint nobody got time for that!! Better go get it before Ali comes back. LOL Homemade cake pops! Yum. And I’d love to try that bread. I’m such a carb junkie.

When you finish your book I”m going to be the first to read it. You are something else. I was cracking up laughing about Serena in the last post! Oh my goodness that is hysterical and the rice cakes as french fries…yes, keep wishing…ha!

I’ve noticed this too, that even if we have no food we can manage to make cookies and all manner of treats.

LA. I really like visiting but that place kills me sometimes. Take care Ameena.

You know, I almost always have a ridiculous amount of food in the fridge (freezer especially) for just one person. And yet I still wind up making scrambled eggs for dinner more often than not. Sometimes groceries are overrated.

I’m forever envious of your dining out adventures. We planned a trip to Yountville to visit Bouchon this weekend and (un)surprisingly, it didn’t happen. Grr. We do however, have a Costco sized container of ketchup so there’s that I guess 😉

Bouchon macarons are good.. I love La Maison too for macarons.
OMG.. you can’t get the straightening anymore? My hair looks frizzier than yours, seriously look into the Moroccan Oil hair dryer and all their stuff, it’s so good and it smells amazing. Unless the weather is horrible, my hair can actually look nice.
Ameena, NYC has no parking spots either, but you can walk everywhere. 🙂

Hmmm, is that worse or better than going to make hot dogs for dinner (don’t judge, they were nitrite free organic turkey. once in a while I like to have a dog night so the kid can feel normal) only to find that the bag of dogs blimped out. Wha?! How do hotdogs go bad?! I thought they were all full of preservatives and sh#%. So we settled for cereal for dinner. MIlk is protein right? Sadly, no one took us to Bouchon.

I feel same way with Sriracha because I need it with EVERYTHING! Sorry about the hair situation – how about oil massage to condition your hair and give it a second try after few months? You guys got really creative with the dinner there..i would have settled in with cake pops 😛

Ha ha. I have the opposite problem. 2 open bottles of ketchup! How did that happen? My husband doesn’t eat it, my kids are here occasionally, and I eat it once in a blue moon. As far as your hair, I feel deeply for you. I have crazy curly hair. This humidity here is making me look like a clown. Argan oil (a little bit) helps somewhat. My hairdresser put some kind of wax stuff in it last week. No help whatsoever. I’m a bit jealous of you, I bet you can parallel park. You must be adept living in LA. Where I live, not a problem. My husband taught my kids to do it, I’m beyond help.

It’s amazing the hollow echo of an empty fridge. But the dipped strawberries look delicious. We recently filled our fridge with food, and when some of it froze, I asked my husband what was wrong with the fridge. He said that it works more efficiently when it has items inside it to cool, and I probably should turn the setting down, now that there was actually food in it! Who knew? 😉

Once all the food has cooled down to the temp., there is less space left to keep cool, and the fridge doesn’t have to “work” as hard every time you open the door to replace the cold air that has escaped…buy more ketchup! The bigger bottle, the better! 🙂